The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Counthttps://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com
Butterflyfish surveys in Fiji in 2008 and 2009Sat, 12 May 2018 05:57:24 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5https://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/cropped-vert_logo-32x32.jpgThe Great Fiji Butterflyfish Counthttps://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com
3232The Great Fiji Shark Counthttps://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/the-great-fiji-shark-count/
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:04:24 +0000http://2013butter.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/?p=21Come and help celebrate Fiji’s magnificent Sharks, Rays and Turtles, have fun and show you care about our world’s delicate coral reefs: join the hunt for the Great Fiji Shark!

In 2012 Fiji is getting serious about Shark Protection!

Across the world it is recognised that sharks are vital to the health and balance of marine ecosystems, yet they are globally overfished and hunted to the brink of extinction. Sharks survived the dinosaurs, but they may not survive mankind unless we take action now!

The Fiji Islands are known all over the world for pristine and wonderful marine environments. All visitors here enjoy our beautiful reefs and waters in one way or another. Where better to form a sanctuary for them, and spread the word about the need to protect and respect these kings of the sea, than Fiji?

Learning about the sharks of Fiji is the first step to this kind of protection. In April 2012, and again in November 2012, people from all over the world will come to Fiji to have fun counting sharks while fishing, diving or snorkelling, and contribute their results to a Fiji -wide Shark Biodiversity project that will be published internationally: The Great Fiji Shark Count.

From the 10th – 13th November, 2008, Dakuibeqa Primary School and Uluinakorovatu Primary School on Beqa Island, celebrated the International Year of the Reef (IYOR) by participating in a week long program on marine education and conservation.

Uluinakorovatu School rounded up the program by being part of Fiji’s special IYOR event; The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count 2008.

The program was the brainchild of Sam and Christine Tawake of Lawaki Beach House on Beqa Island. Helen Sykes of Marine Ecology provided technical support and advice.

The week-long activity was facilitated by Marine Ecology staff; Chinnamma Reddy and Eroni Rasalato, who were later joined by Conservation International (CI) staff, Loraini Sivo and Vaseva Cerelala, Wildlife Conservation (WSC) staff Naushad Yakub and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) staff Sikeli Valemei helped out and took part in The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count.

Our exciting week’s program began at Dakuibeqa where a half day program was carried out on introductory marine education.

Topics covered included: what a coral is; how it contributes to reef building; types of coral; threats to reefs; marine fish and invertebrates; how to help protect and preserve reefs. A lot of teaching, and hopefully, learning was involved in that half day, which was certainly a rewarding experience for teachers, facilitators and school kids alike.

Chin explaining coral morphology on new television and DVD set donated by Christine’s family in Switzerland to Uluinakorovatu School.

A similar program was conducted that afternoon in Uluinakorovatu School in Naceva village, however with slightly more time in hand to cover the course in more detail. We had three afternoon sessions with the children there, which was a real challenge the first day where Eroni and I tried really hard to keep the children from falling asleep! However, the enthusiasm increased and by the end of that first day we had eager children all trying to remember names of the 27 Butterflyfish and still wanting to know more!

The excitement level was also certainly high amongst the adults in Naceva village who came to listen eagerly to the presentations on Tuesday night. The word had certainly spread through the kids to them that coral was an animal.

Interested adults and elders of Naceva village listening to discussions on coral reefs, reef inhabitants and marine protected areas.

Eroni emphasizing benefits of Marine Protected Areas

The school kids participated in a range of activities in the three days ranging from coloring competitions and making fish puppets, to basic snorkel and in-water training for the older ones.

Throughout the week’s program, kids were encouraged to participate in general discussion and activities on reef ecology and were awarded with prizes for their efforts. These prizes were kindly donated by Marine Ecology, Resort Support, The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Lawaki Beach House. In addition, resource materials such as educational DVD’s, books and posters were donated to both schools by The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), Marine Ecology, Conservation International and Naushad Yakub (personal donation).

Not only did school kids and adults participate in the week long activities but also Lawaki Beach House staff embers were eager to learn snorkeling techniques and conduct the official Butterflyfish Count activity for their resort.

Christine Tawake of Lawaki Beach House presenting Class 3 student of Uluinakorovatu School with Butterflyfish slate for her best coloring in of coral reef inhabitants.

The week finished up with fruits, scones and refreshments donated by Lawaki Beach House and then a thank-you session with the teachers and elders around the kava bowl. A lot of positive feedback was received from the teachers and adults in general discussions, and it was encouraging to note that they were certainly eager to know more about reef conservation, its inhabitants, and the idea of marine protected areas.

It is hoped that this initiative will be carried on in future with support and participation of the villagers, and interested conservation organizations and tourist operations in the area.

The talk focused on the preliminary analysis of Butterflyfish abundance and species richness compiled from results of the Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count in November last year.

The considerably fewer resources required for conducting and receiving wide scale information on species distribution and abundance in Fiji was highlighted and proven through the mass network and support during the Butterflyfish Count event.

Mass replication of such surveys reduces variability in results and can be quite successfully utilized for establishing patterns on reef character etc.

Comparison to more scientifically rigorous surveys conducted by two independent surveyors was also carried out and the results appear to be comparable for both abundance and species richness from the two survey groups (GFBFC and scientists) across the Fiji Island.

It was found that results of timed swims rather than measured transects of the scientists was most comparable to the results gathered during the Great Fiji Butterfish Count. Surveyors were concentrating on one fish family and therefore there were records of more fish and species on most sites from both the survey groups.

Whilst the volunteer surveyor network still needs help in correct species identification this can be effectively corrected if participating resorts, NGO’s and schools spend more time reviewing the resource materials provided to them. This will ensure accuracy in the results gathered. The talk also highlighted the awareness that was raised in fish identification, population’s diversity, reef health, and conservation, in local resort staff and communities as well as visitors.

The talk concluded on the fact that 90% of Fiji’s 27 species can be found in most regions of the country and that there were high Butterflyfish numbers in most areas. There was also a call for participation and support for the second round of the Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count event to be held during 10th – 17th October 2009. All interested organizations are requested to take part in this fun event and contribute data toward the Butterflyfish database.

The FICSF was certainly the perfect opportunity to present and highlight the importance of volunteer networks to developing countries like Fiji where limited financial resources often hamper such initiatives. Good on you volunteers!

]]>Navatu Village and Greenforce Counthttps://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/greenforce-navatu-2/
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:58:03 +0000http://2013butter.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/greenforce-navatu-2/An invitation was extended to 11 volunteers from Navatu to spend the day in Nukubalavu, to take part in The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count, alongside the staff and volunteers of the Greenforce Team.

The day consisted of several 30 minute snorkels along the Nasonisoni Passage. Each team consisted of two surveyors armed with an identification slate. The day was a good opportunity for the Greenforce volunteers and the Navatu volunteers to work together.

This project was conducted throughout November across all the Islands of Fiji. Many different dive organisations and resorts, using a combination of tourists, science trained staff and locals took part in the collection of this data.

]]>Results and Datahttps://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/results-and-data/
Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:19:59 +0000http://2013butter.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/?p=36Using the data you have helped gather, we will not only be able to map Butterfly Fish distribution and abundance in Fiji, but because butterfly fish act as significant indicators of reef health, we can use the information to infer patterns of reef health.

The scientific community, to assist them in the implementation of conservation strategies and management measures to improve the health of our reefs.

The tourism industry such as the resorts and dive operators, in order to raise awareness and assist them in designing better approaches to

wards caring for the marine environment.

The general public through this website and various publications such as local newspapers, in-flight magazines, local magazines, posters etc.

A major country report will be compiled and released, to increase general awareness and to illustrate the positive outcome which your participation in The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count has had on protecting Fiji’s reef system for generations ahead to enjoy.

We have done a first analysis to get the results out to you as quickly as we could. The next step will be a more scientific analysis to see what we can make from the patterns that have been seen. As we do this, we will keep you posted on this site – watch this space.

All regions of the Fiji Islands have a high percentage of the Butterflyfish species seen in the country.

Numbers of Butterflyfish were higher than expected all over the country, but especially in the Western and Southern Islands.

There are regional differences, with one Butterflyfish species dominating in the Northern region, another in the West, and different ones on the outer islands (now we have to figure out what that means!)

We are excited to see that Fiji’s Butterflyfish biodiversity is so high, and this reflects the good condition of the reefs across the country. The differences show us that there are different reef types in different regions, and scientists think that this is helping Fiji’s reef resilience and resistance to harmful events, which is good news for the future of our corals.

And best of all…. everyone really enjoyed taking part, lots of awareness was raised and educational opportunities were taken. Thanks to you all, see you next year!

Chinnamma Reddy Chetty
The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count
Coordinator

Results

]]>Regional resultshttps://www.fijibutterflyfishcount.com/regional-results/
Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:38:50 +0000https://fijibutterflyfishcount.com/?p=906The Western and Southern Islands of Fiji were joint first for both number of Butterflyfish and number of different species.

The Northern region came second as far as number of Butterflyfish went, with the West close behind.

The Central region of Fiji had slightly lower number of Butterflyfish than the other areas, but very similar number of species.

Overall, no area had less than 78% of all the Butterflyfish Species found in Fiji, and the range of number of Butterflyfish seen in 30 minutes counting was 43 – 102, much larger numbers than we expected.